GM warns the Valley: Prepare to compete over driverless cars

The car’s autonomous technology will take the Volt to a destination and park itself.

Reuss also said GM is pursuing other strategic partnerships “with non-automotive companies” to advance autonomous driving technology.

GM also announced the launching of two programs for vehicle sharing in New York and another city that has not yet been identified.

“No one has solved all the technical challenges or claimed outright leadership”.

Connectivity and apps will also help GM keep tabs on what customers are doing with their cars and how they are responding to features such as automatic braking or hands-free highway driving, Barra said.

GM’s shares traded Sept 28 about 12% below their US$33 (RM145) per share initial public offering price – despite Barra’s promise earlier this year to return US$10bil (RM44.22bil) to shareholders in the form of buybacks and dividends through 2016.

Reuss said the company and partners are working to develop better sensor technology that can handle heavy fog or ice patches, as well as artificial intelligence that can predict driver behavior and prepare for real-world problems.

“Some might find this massive change to be daunting, but we look at it and see the opportunity to be a disruptor”, CEO Mary Barra said.

The auto maker is targeting $5.5 billion in purchasing, manufacturing and administrative cost cuts by 2018, with a plan to reallocate those funds to product and technology development.

Besides the driverless cars, the company also offered a sneak peek of a concept electric bicycle.

Barra gets good marks from analysts and investors for delivering on the automaker’s profit targets so far – including maintaining a forecast of 9% to 10% profit margins in China despite rapidly decelerating growth in vehicle demand. For now, the company has not announced on how many Volts will be there in the fleet.

GM says it has millions of its cars now plying on the road, which are already intrinsically connected to the internet.

GM now sells the Volt, which can go about 40 miles on battery power before a gasoline generator kicks in. Moreover, GM has promised Chevrolet Bolt, a true all-electric auto with a staggering 200-mile range before 2016 is out.

GM said it now plans for its annual free-cash-flow generation to outpace operating earnings growth. GM says that 26 percent of its sales in 2015 have come from vehicles that were all new or significantly updated in the last 18 months. The projects will “test hardware and software systems and gain insights into car-sharing user experiences”. The scandal caused the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and similar agencies worldwide to tighten test requirements.